Hi,
I'm posting under the 'Hardware' section because I'm wondering if the issue I'm having is hardware related.

Here is the situation:
I created a USB flash drive of Lucid Puppy 528.
Error message upon boot:
Kernel Panic - not syncing - attempted to kill init...

The USB drive brand is ATP 1 gig ToughDrive. (purchased new recently via internet and USPS delivery)
The host PC is a Nobilis -RTS-N4018 M50E10, no HDD, 512 RAM, Pentium(R)Mproc 1.73 ghz
(Note: only available input are USB ports.)
I used the BootFlash USB installer option to create the bootable flash drive.
The md5sum check is good.
I re-installed several times.
The drive previously held Lucid Puppy 520 and booted inconsistently on same machine.
By that I mean sometime it would boot ok and other times it would boot but not show X (desktop screen).
I've tested the machine with another brand USB stick containing lupu-520 with no problems.

Using Gparted, I viewed the setup of the old stick with lupu-520 against the new stick with lupu-528.
The two setups look identical.
Using a GUI screen I looked at the contents of lupu-528 on the ToughDrive. Looks like all the files are there.

Does this look like a hardware situation? (If not, I'll post elsewhere.)

Bought new recently, but probably old stock, as they came out in 2005
It may be the usb power from the PC, or the lead to the flashdrive...I've had temperamental ones cured by changing cables [especially thicker/shorter ones works best]
Otherwise can only hazard a guess and say bad copy to drive
Speed seems to be an issue with some makes, that despite advertising, actually run very slowly, and the software times out - I presume you have usb2.0 port, not usb1.1, which is much slower and won't like a usb2.0 drive plugged in it....?
HTH

Yep! that's the drive. I purchased it because of the features mentioned in the review. But, didn't realize that it was that old. Good ole' internet purchase.

Yes, usb2.0 port (4 ports on machine).

However, since I posted the above there is a new development which leads me to believe there is a hardware issue with the machine not the usb drive.

I just booted up the machine with a SanDisk USB drive that holds Lucid Puppy 520 and got the same message:

Kernel Panic - not syncing - attempted to kill init...

I've had suspicions that there is a grounding issue with the machine. The machine was given to me by my local PT repair shop. The HDD is gone and not all the screws that hold the back access plates are there. I've taped them closed. The only access is through USB ports. The machine is fast and I like it.

Thank you for your timely reply, Aitch Good to be back on our forum.

EDIT Update ... Tonight, the machine plug into the surge protector gave off sparks as I plugged it in.... I'm afraid this machine has to go the way of e-waste. Thank you Aitch, for your response. Darn! nice little machine otherwise.
A MUCH LATER EDIT: I didn't give up on the machine. I got it running with no problems. Nice Machine.